As doctors and psychiatrists, we have seen the devastating effects of benefit reform on our patients

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This weekend’s US Open once again proved that there is a double-standard in sport between men and women, which is further amplified by race. The nail-biting grand slam final between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka brought out the worst in the sport when Serena was consistently subjected to unfair treatment by the umpire, treatment which has been called out as sexist and racist.

She was handed an initial code violation for coaching, a warning for smashing a racket and a game penalty for calling the umpire a “thief” – causing $17,000 worth of fines.

Serena’s claims of sexism are completely valid, as though violations have been spread between men and women this summer, only women have been penalised for on court coaching.

The 36-year-old tennis star was also the only person to face an extortionate fine for verbal abuse in the entire Open. Since the incident, commentators have come out saying that they too have heard umpires called things much worse than a “thief” and go without any penalties.

‘Her claims of sexism are completely valid’

Serena Williams of the United States argues with referee Brian Earley during her Women’s Singles finals match against Naomi Osaka. (Photo by Jaime Lawson/Getty Images for USTA)

This isn’t the first time that Serena has been targeted. During the French Open she wore an all-black Nike compression catsuit to help with reducing blood clots. Despite the medical reasoning for this, they banned the item from the dress code claiming that it was not respectful of the game.

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on May 29, 2018 at 12:05pm PDT

Serena has been graceful and classy for her whole career, so this almost feels as if people were waiting for this moment to chastise her, and use racist and sexist stereotypes of the angry black woman to do so. In a racist cartoon depiction of the match for the Herald Sun, Mark Knight enlarges all of Serena’s features – reminiscent of 1930s, Jim Crow-era depictions of African Americans.

He also draws her throwing a tantrum like a child, with a dummy on the floor, invalidating and dismissing her genuine concerns as blanket rage. To make matters worse, he depicts Osaka, who is of Japanese and Haitian heritage heritage as a petite pale woman speaking to the umpire as he pleads with her to ‘Let [Serena] win’.

This, alongside the harmful rhetoric used in various news stories to paint Serena as the immature ‘ballistic’ aggressor speaks to a larger problem of misogynoir in the media.

Despite the global rise and commodification of #GRLPWR feminism, there is still widespread mistreatment and silencing of women, particularly black women, in sport and wider society. This incident was painful to watch, as it was all too familiar hearing Serena’s voice crack as she pleads to be seen as an equal.

‘Invalidating and dismissing’

There was a lot riding on this game for Serena, as she would have tied for the most ever grand slam titles in the history of the sport. The constant interference and punishment from the umpire knocked Serena at a point where she could, very conceivably, have come back to make history.

The passion and pain in Serena’s voice was moving. You could hear the injustice she felt after working extremely hard and enduring a life-threatening pregnancy only to still be punished for being a woman.

Though the tennis star has received an onslaught of abuse, critique and even doubt from fellow players, she has received support and backing from both the Women’s Tennis Association and the United States Tennis Association in her claims of unfair treatment.

She’s also received a lot of affirming messages from other celebrities that continue to recognise her ‘icon’ status.

😭😭😭 the epitome of what it means to be a QUEEN today . QUEENS stand up for the greater good of US ALL and LEAD BY EXAMPLE every chance they get . I love you @serenawilliams ! I’m thankful for you ! I stand with you . https://t.co/z7zZoM0ZOz

(1/2) Several things went very wrong during the @usopen Women’s Finals today. Coaching on every point should be allowed in tennis. It isn’t, and as a result, a player was penalized for the actions of her coach. This should not happen.

Serena is a representation of black excellence at its finest. She’s also a reminder that black women, on every level, are not still not seen as deserving of the same humanity and compassion – we have to fight for that daily.

As doctors and psychiatrists, we have seen the devastating effects of benefit reform on our patients

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